Morning journal and courier., 1887-03-02
LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS

Commission be AbOlishede The l Rearing Abolishing it-The Tes. [. timony Brought out B9 the AttOr- | neys-The Secret Ballot BOX AdVo- | cated Before the Judiciary.
 HARTFORD, March 1, 1887. Especial to the JOURNAL AND CeuRIER.l This was the oystermen's day at the State l Capitol. The early morning trains brought | the raisers of the succulent bivalve from | many portions of the State, including Green wich and South Norwalk and Oyster Point | and Fair Haven. The cause of this influx of l oyster growers was the much talked of hear 1 ing before the committee on fisheries on the
 bills and petitions abolishing the shell fish 1 commission. Fair Haven was especially
 represented. The hearing began this morn l ing. Numerous petitions have been present | ed to the legislature asking that the commits
 sion be abolished, urging that it is not only
 an expensive luxury, but that the oyster
 grounds of the State having been defined,
 there is no longer any need of the commis-
 sion. Ex-Speaker Lynde Harrison and
 John w. filling appeared as counsel for the petitioners and ex-Speaker Tibbitts and T. M. Maltbie for the commission. The hearing | throughout was one of the most interesting
 and exciting ones before a legislative com
 mittee this session. The Hon. Lynde Har- rison opened the proceedings and read the most important of the bills. MT. Harrison ! explained the origin of the title to oyster | grounds, and told how the towns along the shore first granted the land suitable for oys- ! ter culture which was within the limits and 1 how the industry thrived, and he then ex- plained the reasons for the introduction of the commission. The commission was au- thorized, said he, to make map of the oys- ter grounds of the State at a cost not to ex- ceed S2,500. The attorney said he expected to show that the cost of that map had been $25, ,000 general overhauling of the through by MT. Harrison He showed that since May, 1881, the State had ex- pended in this work $62, ,9S2 and had received from surveys and sales $55, ,301 and from sales S21 1893. The reports of the commission said he, show that their expenses per month, aside from office and field work, in 1881 were $166, and show a steady increase from year to year although the work has decreased till in 1886 the ex- pense had grown to $500 per month. After commenting at length on the expenses of the commission, MT. Harrison concluded his ad- dress by stating that he did not intend to impute that the commission had robbed the State, but he did maintain that there was an error made in the judgment in making the work cost so much; that they were ap- pointed only for 8 temporary purpose and that when the work was done they should | have lessened and not increased the expenses. | Attorney John w. filling then called as the ! first witness H. E. Nettleton, secretary to the l president of the Consolidated road, and pro- l ceeded to question him to the record of passes issued to the members of the commis- 1 sion. As result of the examination of Mr. | Nettleton it was shown that one of the members of the commission, Dr. William N. . Hudson, had been using 8 pass issued to | him by the Consolidated road as an auditor | of that road, and at the same time had been charging the State for travelling expenses Dr. Hudson in his behalf stated that he held ! pass as an official of that road and it was | no matter in which the State had an interest ! He added that he stated the facts to the au- diting officers of the State as to whether the
 
 l under the circumstances and they had de- cided in the affirmative. The bringing out of the above fact caused much discussion among the opposing attorneys.
 c. w. Bell, an oyster cultivator of South Norwalk, was asked whether in his opinion the commission should or should not be abol- ishad. He stated that he saw no necessity why it should be continued. He saw no oc- casion for it's original organization. He un- derstood that when the commission was in- troduced it was only to be temporary. As l an oysterman he would prefer to settle dis putes over boundary lines with other oyster men in the regular courts rather than before the commission. Mir. Bell thought there was no available unoccupied oyster ground between Bridgeport and the New York boundary. Stiles Judson, of Stratford, ia vored the abolition of the commission. The committee at p. m. adjourned.
 The afternoon session of the committee be- gan at 3 o'clock in the hall of the House. There were many prominent oystermen and other interested spectators present. Captain Lockwood, of Greenwich, was the first per | son called by Attorney AlIiug. He strongly | favored the bill. He thought a competent man could now do the work of the commis- | sion. Clerk Botsford of the commission gave some testimony regarding the journal kept | by the commission Clerk Hubbard from the
 
 | ness of certain abstracts made from reports made by the commission in the comptroller's office. Theodore $. Lowndes, of South Nor walk, was next cross questioned by the op- posing attorneys He gave an adverse opin 1 ion to the necessity of there being three commissioners. He thought the tax imposed | on the oyster growers was altogether too burdensome. Taking the stars, the elements and the commission, said MT. Lowndes, we have pretty hard time of it. MT. Lowndes was cross examined and admitted the fact | that he thought the expenses of the commis- sion were being paid solely by the oyster growers. He thought it might change his opinion somewhat after being informed that the money to pay the commission with came from the State treasury and not from the | oyster growers solely. Samuel Chard, a sea captain and an oyster grower of much expe rience testified that he was well acquainted l with the Sound and had sounded for oyster ground from the Stratford line to Green wich. He thought there was no use for the l commission of three. He thought that one | man was well able to attend to the work. He never saw any use for the commission | anywhere around Greenwich. The commis- sion taxed his land altogether too high in his l opinion. In the return list he overestimat- l ed the value of his land, and the commission | not satisfied with this made large addition to | the valuation. Garnet Decker of South | Norwalk, for fifteen years an oyster grower,
 
 | the Sound great deal from Milford to Sandy
 Point, and in his opinion there was no oyster | ground left the State that was good for any | thing between the above points. He believed
 that one capable man could do all
 in an efficient manner. George M. Wood
 ruff an ex-menber of the fish commission,
 was next called He stated that he had | served on the commission from May, 1880,
 until August 1884. He gave it as his opinion
 that one competent man could properly per
 form the work of the commission if he was
 provided with clerk hire. H. O. Rowe, of Fair Haven, was the next to testify. He
 stated how he had experimented in all parts
 of the Sound for the purpose of ascertaining
 available oyster ground. He further said: "I
 have lost $100,000 srom starfsh and last
 year spent $9, 900 in catching the fish. My
 land is taxed altogether too high in many in
 stances I own about 13, 900 acres and lit
 tie more than half of it was procured under
 the commission. I paid $1. 10 per acre for
 the part thus procured I have called
 the attention of the commission in past years